Show Notes
In this episode of Scale Up Your Practice, registered psychologist and global obesity expert Dr. Michael Vallis returns to talk about a critical topic in obesity care: how we define success.
Too often, people living with obesity are made to feel like they’ve failed if they don’t achieve a specific number on the scale. But weight is not a behaviour—and it shouldn’t be the only marker of progress.
🎯 In this episode, we explore: Why success in obesity management should be personal and flexible
How to help patients stop comparing their journey to others
How reframing that weight is not a behaviour could change the treatment approach
What healthcare professionals can say to support motivation and long-term engagement
How to challenge societal narratives that tie weight to personal worth
We also pause for a Bias Break, where Dr. Vallis shares a recent experience with weight bias—and how subtle forms of stigma can still have a deep impact on patients and providers.
This episode is a must-listen for healthcare professionals who want to move beyond “one-size-fits-all” care and toward more compassionate, individualized obesity treatment.
Additional Resources Mentioned: Free Obesity Canada course with Dr. Vallis: Introduction to Behaviour Change Counselling for Obesity: https://utm.guru/uigGD
Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guideline: https://utm.guru/uigGB
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Scale Up Your Practice is created by Obesity Canada. Learn more at obesitycanada.ca.
More from Scale Up Your Practice by Obesity Canada
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
What happens when healthcare professionals know what evidence-informed obesity care should look like, but the system makes that care difficult to deliver? Ian Patton and Jennifer Brown join us on the podcast to unpack findings from The State of Obesity Care in Canada report and connect them to what clinicians and patients experience every day: limited referral pathways, uneven treatment coverage, gaps in psychological support, inconsistent access to metabolic bariatric surgery and the effects of weight bias at the system level.
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
🎙️This episode was made possible through the partnership between Obesity Canada and Boehringer Ingelheim in support of the Global Patient Charter Framework initiative.
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